It’s crazy how many things play a part in weight loss.

hugs,
zz

that is interesting about sluggish liver. eventually under enough stress the adrenals do give out. i had high cortisol for years (from dealing with chronic insomnia and other health issues) and didn’t know my cortisol was messed. my cortisol levels then dropped so low i had to go on replacement dose cortisol which i still take now. eventually i will wean off it when my adrenals recover.

you only really hear about cortisol as being the “fat” hormone that makes it hard or impossible to shed abdominal fat. you don’t really hear much about adrenal exhaustion. exhaustion is totally inevitable if you’ve had high cortisol for years.

i can’t relate to the drinking because i don’t drink at all for health reasons but unfortunately at this stage i am on meds that have weight gain as a side-effect. so i have to burn — get this– 800 to 1,100 calories per day (6 days per week) just to maintain my weight. it’s nuts. i like cardio but c’mon that’s brutal.

can’t wait to get fully better and get off the meds.

Raymi,

You seem to be mimicking my life when I was your age. (I’m guessing your in your late twenties based on how experienced you seem, but don’t take that as an insult since you look not a day over 24. I have no idea really.) I’ll be 42 in three weeks. I can hardly believe it. I’ve never mentally aged past 25, although I think I’m wiser thank god, since I too, am neurotic. Especially about my body and looks. Recently I got a gig writing and coaching for a friend that started a company (I’m no longer working for them, but helped them with their initial beta program. http://www.setweight4life.com) It’s kind of gay, but the point is that I learned A TON about weight gain that no trainer and no weight loss book really covers.

I dated a trainer at a gym when I was 25 and I was a competitive rock climber for 10 years, so I had to take care of my body. However, as I got older (30 – 35) I was drinking more and had been a boozer most of my life, and noticed that I was gaining weight instead of slimming down no matter what I did. I figured it was age. Then I learned that as you age your liver gets “sluggish” and stops removing fat as easily from your body. Basically your gall bladder/liver/ and stomach bile are out of whack and no matter how little you eat, or how much you work out, or well you eat, you don’t lose weight much. It also has a lot to do with stress and brain activity.

As I learned to relax (more yoga, less hard core cardio) and drank less (a difficult thing for a girl who loves her whiskey) I lost about 15 pounds like it was nothing. Since then I gain about 5 pounds here and there when I get stressed out or start drinking alot, but as long as I monitor my stress levels, drink less, do more yoga .. I slim down again.

And just so you know: I WAS A HUGE KID….I’ll dig up my fat pictures just for you and blog them (give me a week to scan them all) …. I was 5’5″ and weight 140 pounds. I’ve worked hard to get down to 120 – 125. I seem smaller than I am in pictures, but I have a very round belly that sticks out and men comment that I am “not as small as I seem in pictures” (to which I reply thank you very much and fuck you.)

As for arms – I HATED MY ARMS FOR YEARS!! It wasn’t until I was about 27 that my arms finally got muscular, but I did a lot of work with weights and one day the muscles popped, so keep up the arm work! It will pay off.

If you have the money/time/access….the best thing to do is go to a Natureopath and ask about “sluggish” liver, and find out about your cortisol levels (stress hormone that is in your spit, they do a spit test,) If your Cortisol levels are normal that’s awesome, but I’ll bet they are a little out of whack.

The idea is to get your body to believe (in your brain) that you are not in “fight or flight mode” meaning when the body gets stressed out it things it’s being chased by a saber tooth tiger, when it’s not. The brain cannot decipher between perceived stress (in your head, or working out too much) and the stress from a threat on your life. Which means it will hold onto weight as a defense mechanism.

It’s crazy. When I learned this and started to do less hard core workouts, and more workouts that calmed my body (walking instead of running, and yoga instead of all weights) I started losing weight and to this day I can monitor my stress and get my body to shed.

however – I still think weights are important for a woman, especially as we age. The more muscle you can build the better your body will lOkay – kiddo – I think your the bees knees. You’ll get your money and you’ll be on that island someday. keep thinking about what you want (not what you don’t want) try your best to keep that eye on the carrot. Little steps to success pay off.

ook at my age. I kept a ton of “muscle memory” so it’s easier for me to stay in shape, while all my friends get fat. (poor things)

Okay – I’ll stop bugging you with this stuff, but if I were you I would take a deep happy breath, know that you are gorgeous (and really, you are looking fine fine fine) …. and once you find a way to calm that mind, you will see your body react in a positive way and shed those pounds.

Love and hugs. zz

that said, losing 3% fat is REALLY good! our scale at home has a built-in fat % calculator, it’s cruel.

today after eating a castle i woke up to a six pack. magical six pack lined with bread pudding and negronis. mmm. go tmr.